Coming across a nut case every eight years isnÛªt so bad, probably, although it does introduce a negativity bias (fancy word I learned in college).
About fifteen years ago I was surveying an area out in the sticks. I had been at it all day, I was tired, dehydrated, and my arms were bloody from the sticky bushes. One of the last tasks was to shoot the GLO monument way behind one homesite. The dogs were barking, naturally, and the woman came out mad as could be because she, ÛÏDidnÛªt want my lot surveyed.Û I assured her I was not surveying her lot, just walking past, but she wasnÛªt buying any of it. I kept hiking, shot the monument, and hiked back, now really tired. She had assembled her friends in the road, all of them glaring at me, and demanding to know who I worked for. They werenÛªt happy with my, ÛÏMe. I own the company,Û staring daggers through me as I put the rover in the car and left.
Eight years ago doing a residential survey for a friend, easy enough, with an access easement on the west that the guy behind him used to get to his house. For his convenience he (the guy behind) had paved the access easement. My clientÛªs property corner was in the middle of the asphalt and I had to dig it out. The guy behind came out and was furious that I had dug a hole in his asphalt, so he followed me around hurling insults, absolutely vivid that I was ignoring him.
This morning I was looking for a brass cap in the north end of a public street. I parked, in the public street mind, and the lady came out just boiling. I was pleasant even as she called me a vulgarity and pretended to call the SheriffÛªs department. I was pretty sure a deputy would not show up, and he didnÛªt, as I kept on working.
ps I have to wonder at how unhappy people like that must be, to hate the world and everyone in it.
pps I later learned todayÛªs furious lady is a school teacher. I pity those kids.
Vivid or livid? Or both?
Takes all kinds- my two favorites were the meth chef who rattled off a couple shots from an AR in my general direction, then begged me not to call the popo, and the lady who kept hitting me with one of those flexible plastic lawn rakes. I think she was trying to knock my fluorescent vest off.
Yep, recently on a Saturday morning had use the sharp end of the prism pole to fend a glue sniffing prostitute away from the robot. Twice. And if it's not Joe Blow then there's other things - got 10 wasp stings doing a 2 day topo last weekend, 5 separate nests, coordinates of each will be on the drawing.
Ha, yes livid, although as you said it was also vivid. Goodness she was mad and it probably didn't help her demeanor when I stayed calm.
Bruce Small, post: 415229, member: 1201 wrote: Ha, yes livid, although as you said it was also vivid. Goodness she was mad and it probably didn't help her demeanor when I stayed calm.
I've met that woman before, I guess she moved to Arizona 😉
Funny. I had heard she had moved back to town. Wish you could keep her in Arizona (or California).
pps I later learned todayÛªs furious lady is a school teacher. I pitythose kids.
I believe you've now met my ex-wife.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Williwaw, post: 415241, member: 7066 wrote:
pps I later learned todayÛªs furious lady is a school teacher. I pitythose kids.
I believe you've now met my ex-wife.
My ex-wife use to bear hunt with a fly-swatter....
Or, did she hunt bare and swat a fly?
Threads like this make me love my life. God Bless, Steve
Bruce,
Having met you, I cannot imagine how anyone could become vividly livid at you. The rarity of the events is a testament to your calm and easy going demeanor. If I were to guess, their lithium level was below the therapeutic level (not meant to make fun of mental illness).
The good news is that this should be your last run in with the unhinged (unless you plan to still be working in 2025).
Last October I was doing a simple boundary topo on a vacant lot in a new subdivision. The lot was located at an intersection and one of the two adjoiners was vacant as well. The occupied adjoiner had a 1.5 million dollar French Chateau themed McMansion on it with tons of landscaping. About ten minutes into the job I scraped back the mulch to uncover a PC point along the sidewalk and met both the owner and his ankle biters a few moments later.
He hadn't answered the door when I knocked, but as soon as I started scraping the mulch back, I heard the garage door go up and the cursing begin. He came storming out with his dogs leading the way, demanding that I get the hell off his property, who the f*^k are you, and what the hell are you doing. I smiled, introduced myself, explained what I was doing, why I was doing it, that the pin in question was whacked and thus not useful to me, so I would just replace the mulch and been on my way. He continued to demand that I get off his property, so I pointed out that I'd been standing on the public sidewalk the entire time. I replaced and smoothed the mulch as he continued to raise hell then I explained that I would be working next door for a couple of hours and that I would tread as lightly as possible when working along the common line. He was still fussing as I walked away.
By lunch I was finished except for one last shot. The sanitary sewer paralleled the road and the next manhole downstream was at the lower side of his lot about five feet off the public sidewalk. I walked down the median of the boulevard until I was even with the manhole then crossed to the public sidewalk. I realized that his yard and landscaping created a hump between my instrument and the manhole so I raised the rod to twelve feet then stepped from the sidewalk to the manhole. Before I could even get plumb, he was on the driveway above me yelling "sir, get of my property" over and over. I said "Sir, I've already explained who I am and why I'm here. I need to get a measurement on this manhole that I'm standing on and then I will be finished and gone for good." I was having trouble getting a shot with the distraction and the clutter between me and the instrument and he was still yelling. Then he started fiddling with his phone and I assumed he was calling the sheriff. I explained that surveyors have right-of-entry in Tennessee and that I could get a court order and an escort if needed to finish my work. About that time I heard a gurgling sound in 4D stereo and realized that I had misread his intentions. He had activated the sprinklers in that corner of his yard in an attempt to chase me away or inconvenience me. The Trimble wench informed me that she had stored the shot about the time the first drops hit me and I threw my head back and laughed at him. After a good belly laugh I politely said, "Sir, that is the most childish thing I've ever had anyone do to me in the course of a survey, but the joke is on you because my equipment is waterproof, and I'm so stubborn that I'd stand here all afternoon get the measurement if I needed to. I'm sorry that my being here has caused you to have such a bad day but I hope it gets better for you. Have a nice day." The stress had evaporated and I was smiling and waving (whole hand, not one fingered) as I walked away listening to the stream of profanity following me up the sidewalk. I hope to never be as miserable as that man seemed to be.
Reflectorless shots to the house can be a good way to rattle someone's cage from a safe distance.
Gene Kooper, post: 415278, member: 9850 wrote: Bruce,
Having met you, I cannot imagine how anyone could become vividly livid at you. The rarity of the events is a testament to your calm and easy going demeanor. If I were to guess, their lithium level was below the therapeutic level (not meant to make fun of mental illness).
The good news is that this should be your last run in with the unhinged (unless you plan to still be working in 2025).
You're right! I hadn't thought of that. Your kind words will stay with me into that last shot and retirement. Thanks, Gene, and Vicki says hi.
Stephen Ward, post: 415287, member: 1206 wrote: "Sir, that is the most childish thing I've ever had anyone do to me in the course of a survey, but the joke is on you because my equipment is waterproof, and I'm so stubborn that I'd stand here all afternoon get the measurement if I needed to. I'm sorry that my being here has caused you to have such a bad day but I hope it gets better for you. Have a nice day."
That made me laugh. Thumbs up from the field crew. 🙂
R.J. Schneider, post: 415294, member: 409 wrote: That made me laugh. Thumbs up from the field crew. 🙂
I'll leave in a heartbeat if they have a weapon or if it looks likely to turn physical, but otherwise I kill'em with kindness. I keep my voice low and even, "yes sir, no sir" or "yes ma'am, no ma'am" as the case demands, and I refuse to take the bait if they're being verbally abusive to get a rise out of me. It's actually a hell of a lot of fun to watch someone fizzle out and calm down once they realize that they're making an ass of themselves in front of their neighbors.
One irate neighbor, who had been borrowing several feet of the client's city lot, followed me all over while loudly detailing my ancestry. He stopped and headed for the house the moment I reached into the survey chariot for my single-bladed axe. I used it to drive the bars marking the disputed territory, boxed up everything and left with him standing on the front porch much like a Chihuahua threatening a mailman.
Another irate neighbor, who had also been borrowing about ten feet of the client's city lot in a different city, was insistent that everything I was doing was wrong, illegal or being done to make me rich. I asked if he knew the width of his lot. Yes, he did. It was 90 feet. Had the helper take the end of the 200' steel tape and clearly hold that against his west fence while I had the irate neighbor follow me to what he said was his east property line. The tape read something like 103 feet where we stopped. I asked him which 90 feet he really wanted to own. He turned beet red and stammered something about my tape not being accurate as he stormed off towards his house. Meanwhile, his ugly 40-something daughter was busy doing her Chihuahua-on-the-front-porch routine the entire time we were present.
Holy Cow, post: 415308, member: 50 wrote: followed me all over while loudly detailing my ancestry
Was he making fun of your daddy?
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